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From: "David W"
Newsgroups: alt.geek
Subject: Meaning of Life
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Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 13:10:47 +0100
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When the egg is fertilized we see nothing. Everything is blackness and we
have no thought about anything. As cells divide and neurons emerge, simple
thoughts about temperature and hunger are created. Out of the hazy mist of
our minds, thoughts are created and our consciousness is born, though
limited to the black environment of the womb.
When we are born our understanding and thoughts advance and become more
complex. We are now alive. We live, we grow old, and we die. As we die,
neurons in the brain blink out one by one. Thoughts dissolve and our
consciousness fades. Eventually there is nothing left. We are dead.
Speaking as an atheist, since nobody knows what lies after death, the
destruction of the brain I presume concludes that consciousness is
obliterated.
So time passes by and the world goes on without us. But from the perspective
in your body, from which you lived your whole life, no thoughts remain and
you cannot recollect on the past. To you, it is as if you had never existed.
When the sperms try and fight their way into the egg, one in a (million?)
succeeds. If it had been any other one, the egg would have been somebody
else and your existence denied forever.
Before birth, nobody complained or minded about anything then, so why should
we care when we are dead? Once we die, to us, our life was meaningless.
Whether it was good or bad, we cannot think about it to care or even notice
it was there.
But your life may mean something; your life may not be a complete waste, for
you are remembered by many and have made changes to the world in some way.
But what about when the people you know die? What if an asteroid hits Earth
out of the blue and everyone dies? Every life on this planet was a waste, so
it now means nothing? The universe would be just the same with or without
human evolution.
This leads me to believe that the universe and Earth are nothing beautiful
and splendid, but rather the pointless interaction of atoms and energy. Why
is the universe here if it sums up to nothing? Evolution is just a pattern
due to survival instincts. So why is it that I can look at my hand, control
it and think to myself, I am somehow up here in this body and how can I
actually think this in itself?
I find the self-awareness of living creatures the most remarkable thing
ever. How does science account for something to experience life? Once the
brain is dead and destroyed, that individual experience cannot be recovered.
Why is the universe I see dependant on the physical object of my brain (or
to you, yours). It's a shame things are this way. If I was an AI being, I
could backup my memory so I wouldn't be lost. What then would happen if an
android started to use my backed up brain? I am now me twice and my life
therefore is the illusion upon itself.
The pointlessness of life is the depressing truth that forces most of us to
turn to religion. Either do that or admit living is pointless. I prefer the
truth, no matter how bad it seems. But if we are going to live anyway, why
not just face the truth and do what we want? Abolish religion I say. Soften
the laws. Just enjoy our lives while we experience this life. Because it won
't come again, and when death comes, all is lost.
There is a grain of hope however. Our minds, however complex, do not in any
way equate the potential of reality (universe, time and all). Perhaps we are
just being fooled, like a worm thinks all there is to life is mud.
--
David W
www.Vlucid.tk